Takeshi Ikeda
Artist in residence Rijksakademie
TAKESHI IKEDA was born in Tokyo in 1984.
He is inspired by experimental music (John Cage, Wandelweiser Group, etc.) and hardcore punk rock. These music genres prove that music is more than just sound because they stress other elements as well, such as the listening and feeling audience. Moreover, the two types of music share the characteristic that they are structured and monotonous, boring even.
Ikeda himself explores new ways to make boring compositions. Tzodom 24 (2016) for example, consists of a 24 hour loop of his performance combined with a voice-over accompanying images from the film The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962), in which the artist expresses his ideas about boredom.
Boredom doesn’t have negative connotations here. Instead Ikeda considers it a significant quality of music and time. According to him, our life is not based on a series of exiting climaxes but rather on boring time. Listening to boring music invites us to think about that boring time, and learn to appreciate it more.